TraceysTrek

Best bits: close encounters with horses

Worst bits: Road walking with no pavements

Distance: 24.3 miles

Rowena dropped me off back at the coast at Milford on Sea. As I got out of the car, I saw these crazy people, the Milford on Sea flock of Bluetits. Of course I had to go and say hello because I have had so much help from the Bluetits along my way. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough hearts to give out to everyone. However, they did oblige by having a team photograph taken.

The Needles at the end of the Isle of Wight are iconic and another psychological milestone for me. They have been visible for a couple of days, but unfortunately are too far away to get a good photograph. This was the best I could manage.

The Solent Coast path winds in and around the coast and the wet lands which are important for wildlife and the number of birds that inhabit it. There are so many bird watchers here with huge telescopic lenses on their cameras.

It was here that I met Doug and his dog Treacle. Doug worked for the council and was doing a survey. He was very knowledgeable about the coastal area here. 

After about 6 miles, I arrived in Lymington, the sign reminds you that you are in the New Forest. This is one of two marinas in Lymington. Walking past the marina I was wondering how many of these boats actually get to go out on the water and how often.

In this beautiful weather many owners were out cleaning their vessels, especially those that are out of the water. I guess they get spruced up ready for putting back in the water. 

I stopped for lunch at Coffee and Drift at the harbour and the lovely staff there wrote me a beautiful message on my lunchbox. I was very touched by this.

In retrospect, I should’ve ordered something slightly easier to eat than halloumi and avocado smash bagel. This proved quite difficult to manage at the same time as people talking to me about what I was doing. This resulted in a longer lunch break than I had anticipated.

I met some lovely people while eating lunch, including Otto who is sporting one of the hearts on his collar.

Lucy, Adam and Norman got in on the discussion too. Adam asked me lots of interesting questions which reminds me that I should have an FAQ on my webpage.

After a lot of road walking and some close encounters with horses, I came to Buckler’s Hard with two rows of beautiful Georgian cottages running down to the river. These are now part of a museum.

The next section was on meandering paths through woodland. I finally arrived at the gorgeous village of Beaulieu which means “beautiful place”. It’s also home to the National motor museum. I stopped for a well-deserved cuppa and orange juice in the Bakehouse. It is an absolutely fabulous typically English tea room with vintage effect decor decked out with Union Jacks and leather upholstery.

Back to more road walking without pavements for a while. Then onto the scrub land by the side of an A road where there were many cattle with large horns, horses and donkeys grazing. These would often meander onto the road or cross the road into the oncoming traffic so the traffic had to slow down swerve and avoid them. It’s crazy around here.

I was really surprised to see an oil refinery amidst this gorgeous countryside. I decided not to walk around the edge of it and spoil my experience today choosing instead to walk through the town.

After a long days walking I arrived in Hythe at the point where the ferry would leave for Southampton. Unfortunately, the ferry no longer runs and so this marked the end of my section for today. This huge marker looks like a giant traffic cone which reminded me of Glasgow and the traffic cone on the head of the Duke of Wellington.

Rowena kindly collected me and then took me on a tour of the marina where we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

There was a planned power outage at Rowena’s house today but fortunately she was able to use Priscilla as her office for today as Priscilla’s Wi-Fi and power was available.

We tried the Tanqueray zero (yes really) gin and tonic with another beautiful meal prepared by James.

I was thinking about Angela a lot this morning. I was trying to imagine having a hug with our arms wrapped around each other snuggling in like we used to do. I really don’t want to forget those feelings.

I was too tired again to write this blog last night as that was 9 days walking in a row. I’m looking forward to my days off. I’m sitting in the sunshine writing this.